An Unfortunate Compromise
---- "That's the one, isn't it? Today's target?" Advachiel hastily asked Usagi as they hid behind a tree, cautiously spying the redhead woman walking through the woods. She whispered the words but it felt as though it was another one of her yelling commands. Advachiel wanted to be here to make sure Usagi was safe, despite him being fully capable of taking on targets with ease, he wasn't sure of him trying to take a guild master. Usagi settled his face into his palm and sighed, "Yes, that's her. Xandala McLean, guild master of Buannachdan. Everything that happens from here will go according to my plan, please try to keep up Advachiel". Signalling for Advachiel to move forward towards Xandala, Usagi wanted face of Bashmu Deacon to try to distract Xandala whilst he snuck up from behind. However, there was something that caused Advachiel to hesitate, which irked the dark mage very much. Xandala was unaware of the upcoming presence of people. She had been spending the morning like always, training. Sweat glistened off her as she held onto her sword tightly before swinging again at the scarecrow. It's sand inside had long been cut open and spilt onto the ground. It was little more than cloth at this point. After cutting another strip of cloth off she stepped back, huffing a little. She felt so tired but she knew she wouldn't stop. Not yet. The sun was still low, she was sure she could go for at least another hour. Xandala took another swing at the scarecrow. Advachiel watched Xandala throw her blade at the scarecrow, keeping track with the sound that is made when the blade hits its targets. One after the other, Usagi was looking as though he was losing patience with Advachiel, his eyes squinting as he was giving too many chances for Advachiel to strike. After a few hits, however, Advachiel gave one small smile before opening her palms behind her to face outward. "Now." She whispered to herself before she swiftly left her spot in the blink of an eye, shooting through the forest. As Xandala's blade met with the scarecrow again, Advachiel stopped herself just in time as she switches the position of her hands, making them face Xandala. Before her target could react to face her, Advachiel exerted a large shockwave at Xandala, aiming to throw her into the scarecrow and keep her spooked for a few seconds. Surprised was one way to put it. Xandala stared at the shockwave for too long, her eyes wide at her unexpected visitors. The shockwave hit her in the chest and she slammed back, the scarecrow snapped in protest. Staring blankly she shuffled uncomfortably before looking at the girl who attacked her. A frown of worry appeared on her face and Xandala held her sword tightly. "Who are you? Why do you come here?" Xandala questioned, her frown furrowing her brows now as it took shape of her face. "Usagi now!" Advachiel yelled out into the woods, realising that the man had already left his post and was behind Xandala with smoke drifting from his hands. Usagi presented himself at the side of Xandala before facing his palm at the female and propelling a missile of smoke at her head. The smoke shot was directed at Xandala's face and aimed to knock out Xandala for an easy transfer. Xandala was wary now, on her toes. She didn't trust anything and as soon as Advachiel yelled she ran for all hills towards her guild hall. The smoke wasn't something she thought about. Even if she was to take a deep breath and hold it she wasn't sure how long she would last. Her bones were tired already. These people knew what they were doing. She turned round to face her foes but she couldn't help but shake, her vision dizzy. It could be part of the smoke or it could be partly because she was terrified. She didn't want to die just like the others. She wasn't even protecting someone. "I mean no harm, just tell me who you are!" it wasn't a question but a statement. Her shaking hands was proof of how she didn't have the power to be demanding such bold claims but she couldn't help it. Slowly, she put her sword into it's shieve behind her. Slowly, she hoped they would understand she meant no harm. Usagi approached Xandala from the side, having used his smoke magic to navigate through the woods and catch up with the guild master discreetly. Advachiel, on the other hand, couldn't be more noticeable, having used her shockwave magic to move through the air, with each shockwave shaking the trees the further she got. As Xandala slowed down, Advachiel landed right behind her target before holding her hands facing Xandala, although Usagi was a distance away, he could feel that Advachiel was changing Xandala's gravity a whole lot to keep her from moving. "Finally, she's following the plan." He said to himself with relief as he approached Xandala and fired one more missile of smoke at the young woman's face, aiming to do what he didn't before. Xandala was ready for the smoke this time. She took a deep breath but the change in gravity pinned her down. Her brows furrowed deeper as she tried to fight the gravity but she barely able to move her hand. She could no longer breathe either, the smoke was upon her. There was only one plan left for her to do. She didn't like this idea but Xandala could only hope that things wouldn't go as bad as she thought they would. Xandala collapsed onto the floor in a heap. Both Usagi and Advachiel approached the knocked out Xandala, both unfazed as this was normal for their line of work. Usagi grabbed a cigarette and lighter from underneath his coat, proceeding to light it and blowing a puff of grey cloud with a sigh. "So what now boss? We going to take her back to our base or not? You didn't really tell me what we're going to do with her once we actually got her." Usagi questioned hesitantly. Advachiel looked over to her associate and smiled, "She's an interesting person after all. This guild has garnered our attention long enough, time to finally ask some questions". Usgai simply nodded to her response and went over to pick up Xandala, feeling that Advachiel had already returned Xandala's gravity back to normal. Pulling their victim over to a nearby tree, Usagi chained her to the tree with her arms crossed over as well as her legs, chaining her tight to the tree to prevent escaping. "You may leave now, that Love Magic of hers won't do you any good from what I've heard," Advachiel recommended, her eyes having aimed at Xandala the whole time. Usagi nodded and proceeded to leave, his chains still tied around Xandala's body, arms and legs. Everything was going smoothly until those chains came out. She opened her eyes and was ready to react, she looked over to Usagi. Her facade of anger disappeared and smooth lines replaced her furrow brows. There was something wrong though. Deadly wrong. "These chains, they block out my magic, don't they miss," she looked back at Advachiel, her frown was back. Advachiel didn't respond, she wasn't here to give answers but ask questions. Kneeling in front of the tied up Xandala, Advachiel placed her palm flat on her target's chest, she could feel the magic quickly building up in her hand. "You're an interesting person, Ms. McLean. Your guild has suffered greatly in the past. It would be a shame if it was to suffer one more time." Advachiel whispered, her eyes staring right into Xandala's soul. The expression on Advachiel's face was as still as a rock, bland and cold. "That was when we were with the Magic Council if you know that much then you know we are no enemy. We no longer associate ourselves with the Magic Council," Xandala seemed to repeat herself a bit, a tremble of worry covering her. No, she didn't want her guild to suffer anymore. This whole tone, however, was hostile and she wasn't going to let her guard down with the two near her. Advachiel simply grinned, turning her attention to Usagi who nodded in response, as if he knew what Advachiel wanted. Without batting an eye, Usagi began walking towards the direction of the guild hall, giving Advachiel a chance to look back to Xandala. "We are well aware of that. Your a dark guild, so in a way you are still an enemy of some sort. Our guild doesn't have many allies, and if we do, we make sure we pick them carefully. What makes you think we won't tear your little guild apart?" She asked maliciously.